The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has begun collecting additional fingerprints from international visitors arriving at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK). The change is part of the department’s upgrade from two- to 10-fingerprint collection. JFK is the tenth port of entry to begin collecting 10 fingerprints from international visitors. US VISIT is evaluating 10 fingerprint collection at these airports. It will use the results to inform the deployment of the technology to the remaining air, sea and land border ports of entry that will transition to collecting 10 fingerprints by December 2008.

“Biometrics have revolutionized our ability to prevent dangerous people from entering the United States since 2004. Our upgrade to 10 fingerprint collection builds on our success, enabling us to focus more attention on stopping potential security risks,” US VISIT Director Robert Mocny said.